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EJToday: Top Headlines

EJToday is SEJ's selection of new and outstanding stories on environmental topics in print and on the air, updated every weekday. SEJ also offers a free e-mailed digest of the day's EJToday postings, called SEJ-beat. SEJ members are subscribed automatically, but may opt out here. Non-members may subscribe here. EJToday is also available via RSS feed. Please see Editorial Guidelines for EJToday content.

"Promoters of a giant coal export terminal, proposed for north of Bellingham, have given $40,000 to the Washington Republican Party, bucks that a Western Washington University professor suspects are being funneled into campaigns of sympathetic but officially 'non-partisan' Whatcom County Council candidates."

"A senior Democrat wants the Energy Department (DOE) to explain how it will address problems described in a new inspector general report that criticizes DOE’s oversight of a major nuclear waste treatment plant that’s under construction in Washington State."

"President Obama's pick to lead the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has asked that his name be yanked from consideration, citing a deadlocked Senate panel and stiff opposition from right-wing groups that turned the confirmation process into a 'blood sport.'"

"Astronauts on the International Space Station will not be abandoned by NASA's ground crews. National Science Foundation-supported researchers working on the planet's frozen poles won't be cut off from communications, either. Flood-stricken Colorado will continue to receive aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and if a hurricane approaches U.S. shores, the National Weather Service will be there to tell us about it. But as Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress continue to squabble over which party is to blame for the first government shutdown since 1995, the impact is already being felt in all federal agencies involved with climate- and climate change-related research and policy."

"In resolving a longstanding dispute, the Food and Drug Administration has announced that it will rescind approval for three of the four arsenic drugs that had been used in animal feeds at the request of the companies that market them."

"The US government entered a state of suspended animation on 1 October after Congress failed to agree on a budget for the next fiscal year, causing federal agencies — including those overseeing science policy and research — to shut down indefinitely."

"Minnesota's dwindling moose herd has a year off from human hunters in 2013, but that doesn't mean life for the big north woods critters is a walk in the park. Moose are still being hit hard by disease, injury and parasites, and they are still prey for four-legged hunters who don't need licenses".

"Among the hundreds of new laws taking effect Tuesday (Oct. 1) is one meant to help the Chesapeake Bay by limiting when, where and how Marylanders should feed their lawns. One scientist, though, suggests homeowners could help the bay better by forgoing lawn fertilizer altogether."

"The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant said on Tuesday that four tonnes of rainwater contaminated with low levels of radiation leaked during an operation to transfer the water between tank holding areas."

"MYSTIC, Conn. — On her trainer’s command, an alabaster-skinned beluga whale named Naku placed her chin on the deck of her outdoor pool and exhaled several times, emitting a hollow 'chuff' sound with each breath. The vapor rose into a petri dish a researcher held over her blowhole."